TheDC Morning: Cash from clunkers

1.) Cash from clunkers— One Republican congressman has a plan to stop his colleagues from missing congressional votes, TheDC’s Alex Pappas reports:

“A Republican congressman is introducing a bill that calls for docking the pay of members of Congress who miss votes. Louisiana Rep. Charles W. Boustany, Jr. is calling his bill the ‘No Show, No Pay Act.’ Boustany said in a statement Tuesday that the bill is in response to members who ‘habitually miss important votes on key policy initiatives and legislation by leaving early or arriving late in order to attend fundraising and campaign events.'”

TheDC Morning favors the opposite — paying some congressmen not to vote. That way, they could do less harm.

2.) Rubies from Rubio— Among the benefits for Mitt Romney of picking Marco Rubio as his running mate is the money the Florida senator would apparently bring in. The Daily Caller News Foundation’s Michael Bastasch reports:

“As Mitt Romney continues to beat President Barack Obama in fundraising, adding Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to the Republican ticket could help the GOP maintain its money advantage. The Center for Responsive Politics broke down each of the top potential vice presidential picks ability to fundraise, with Rubio standing out above the rest. Rep. Paul Ryan and Sen. Rob Portman have also demonstrated an ability to raise large amounts of cash.”

3.) Obama is his brother’s keeper— If by my brother’s keeper, you mean President Obama doesn’t keep his brother from living in a shack. TheDC’s Taylor Bigler reports on Dinesh D’Souza’s upcoming documentary:

“In his travels, D’Souza interviews many figures from the president’s past, including his half-brother, George Obama, who lives in a shack in Nairobi, Kenya that D’Souza likens to ‘something out of ‘Slumdog Millionaire.” In a clip from the film, D’Souza presses George on a number of topics, including why he lives in a slum without any support from his powerful, wealthy brother. ‘The irony of Obama isn’t just that he is a multimillionaire, and here is his half brother living in a hut. What is a shock about Obama is he is out there lecturing everyone about what we owe others unrelated to us,’ D’Souza told TheDC.”

“Should disaster strike the U.S., the Secretary of Homeland Security will be in charge of re-establishing and prioritizing communications to ensure the continuation of the federal government, according to a new executive order from President Barack Obama. The executive order, signed on Friday, once again expands the powers of the Department of Homeland Security — this time to include the handling of communications during a national security event or natural disaster. The order also allows for DHS to re-establish communications ‘through the use of commercial, government, and privately owned communications resources, when appropriate.'”